Chapter 233
Suzy rose slowly to her feet and looked down at Wendy without saying a word.
Even she had not expected Dummy’s venom to be so terrifyingly potent.
It had been less than a few seconds since the bite, yet Wendy’s complexion was already turning a sickly shade of blue.
Apparently, Dummy had been holding back all this time.
"Antidote... give me the antidote..."
Wendy sprawled across the floor, dragging herself toward Suzy with desperate movements. Agony twisted her bluish face as she clawed at the stairs.
"Suzy... you can’t kill me... I’m the heroine... if I die... this world..."
Her voice grew weaker and weaker. The focus faded from her eyes. Moments later, her body began convulsing violently.
Her lips continued moving as if she were trying to say something, but the words had become little more than unintelligible murmurs.
Dummy glanced at the dying woman on the floor before turning back to Suzy.
The small white snake affectionately rubbed against her ankle, behaving like a pet seeking praise after completing a task.
Suzy reached down and stroked its head. Her attention, however, remained fixed on Wendy.
She watched as Wendy trembled, struggled, and gradually lost strength.
The resistance became weaker. Then weaker still. Until finally, it stopped altogether.
Silence settled over the stairwell. Wendy’s eyes remained open. The pupils had already dilated completely. Within them, Suzy could see her own reflection.
Slowly, she crouched beside the body and placed two fingers beneath Wendy’s nose.
Nothing.
Then she checked her pulse. Nothing there either.
Dead. Wendy was dead.
The result felt almost surreal. The nearly invincible heroine had ultimately been killed by a single bite from Dummy.
Even Suzy found it hard to believe.
She had exhausted every method she could think of. She had risked her life over and over, only to have every attack blocked by the bizarre invisible barrier surrounding Wendy.
Yet Dummy had been able to approach her. Not only approach her, but kill her with its venom.
Keeping the snake had truly been one of the best decisions she had ever made.
And yet... Suzy’s gaze drifted back to Dummy.
The little creature stared up at her with its tiny red bean-like eyes, looking innocent, adorable, and completely harmless.
And somehow, this tiny thing had succeeded where everything else had failed.
The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
It simply didn’t make sense. Could there have been some flaw in Wendy’s protective barrier? Had Dummy somehow exploited a loophole she never knew existed?
Or was there something extraordinary about the snake itself?
Suzy turned the possibilities over in her mind again and again but couldn’t find an answer.
When she had first encountered Dummy, it had been nothing more than an ordinary pet snake.
A smart pet snake, perhaps.
But still just a pet.
It was only after drinking her spirit spring water that it had gradually developed intelligence.
So where exactly had things changed?
What had she overlooked?
The harder she tried to think, the more her head throbbed.
A sharp ache pulsed behind her temples.
...Forget it.
It hurt too much to keep thinking.
Whatever the reason, Wendy was dead. That alone was enough.
Gradually, Suzy forced herself to calm down.
The stairwell had become eerily quiet.
Below her, Leonard and Thomas remained unconscious, still lying where they had fallen.
Exhaustion suddenly crashed over her.
Suzy sank onto the stairs and drew in several deep breaths.
Her heartbeat hammered so violently against her ribs that it felt as though it might burst out of her chest.
Dummy slithered up her pant leg and wrapped itself around her wrist.
"Master, how did I do?"
The snake’s voice echoed inside her mind.
It sounded proud of itself, though there was also a trace of exhaustion beneath the excitement.
Suzy couldn’t help smiling.
"You did great."
Dummy’s eyes brightened.
"I’ll give you a reward later."
The snake immediately rubbed its head against her hand, delighted by the praise.
After all, it had spent a long time accumulating venom.
It had been waiting for the day that venom would finally prove useful.
Once she had thoroughly praised the little creature, Suzy sent it back into the storage space to rest.
Then her gaze returned to Wendy.
At this point, she was nothing more than a lifeless corpse. Not a trace of vitality remained.
[Host, touch her.]
The system’s voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
Suzy blinked.
Then she extended her hand and placed it on Wendy’s body.
[I am about to devour her system. Host, remain exactly as you are and do not move.]
Her system?
The realization struck her immediately.
After being bitten by Dummy, Wendy’s very first reaction had been to call for help from a system.
So it turned out she had one too.
The only thing Suzy did not know was what kind of system Wendy had possessed.
Following her own system’s instructions, she maintained her position and remained perfectly still.
[Done.]
Roughly five minutes later, the system finally spoke again.
Suzy withdrew her hand.
Then the system added casually:
[I’ve absorbed her storage space as well.]
Suzy nodded.
[The required energy threshold has been met. Your space is now undergoing an upgrade and will be temporarily inaccessible.]
At long last, she had received the news she had been waiting for.
The storage space was finally evolving.
Under normal circumstances, she would have been overjoyed.
But at this moment, exhaustion weighed so heavily on her that any excitement lasted barely two seconds.
A faint smile tugged at her lips before disappearing just as quickly.
After resting for a moment, Suzy pushed herself up using the stair railing and slowly made her way down to Thomas and Leonard.
Both men were still unconscious.
She retrieved spirit spring water from her storage space and carefully fed some to each of them.
By the time she finished, it felt as though every ounce of strength had been drained from her body.
Leaning heavily against the wall, she struggled to catch her breath.
Her breathing grew increasingly labored.
At the same time, a sharp pain radiated through her arm.
Only then did Suzy remember she had been injured.
Although she had narrowly avoided Wendy’s attack earlier, the blade had still managed to graze her.
Turning her head, she looked toward the wound on her shoulder.
The world suddenly blurred.
Darkness began creeping into the edges of her vision.
Her breathing became more difficult with every passing second.
It felt as though an invisible hand had wrapped itself around her throat.
Tightening.
Squeezing.
Trying to strangle the life out of her.
And she was powerless to resist.
Her limbs felt heavy. She couldn’t breathe. Her throat burned. Everything hurt.
It hurt so much.
Pain... Nothing but pain.
For the first time, Suzy truly thought she might be dying.
What she couldn’t understand was why.
Was it the wound Wendy had inflicted? Or was this punishment from karma itself for killing the world’s heroine?
Her thoughts became increasingly sluggish. Her consciousness drifted farther and farther away.
Then, through the haze, she heard footsteps.
Rapid footsteps. Panicked footsteps. Someone was running toward her.
"Suzy!"
A voice shouted her name.
Was someone calling for her? Or was this simply the final illusion before death?
She didn’t know. The darkness swallowed her completely.
[Host... Host!]
[Stay with me... I’ll save you...]
A familiar voice drifted through the void, as though someone were speaking through a pane of glass.
Confused, Suzy blinked.
Slowly, she turned her eyes and examined her surroundings, but she couldn’t see anything at all.
Yet the voice grew clearer.
[Host! Can you hear me?]
[Wake up... please wake up...]
The voice seemed distant one moment and close the next.
Suzy tried to sit up. She wanted to follow it. To find whoever was calling her. But an invisible force seemed to restrain her.
Something was stopping her from moving toward the voice.
The more awake she became, the more obvious it felt.
A strange, indescribable power bound her. It shackled her arms. Restrained her legs.
She couldn’t see it, yet she could feel it––an invisible prison holding her in place.
"...?"
What...
She opened her mouth, her throat moved, but no sound came out.
Unease spread through her chest.
She looked around again, searching the endless darkness.
Where was this place? And why couldn’t she leave?